Multiple blood sampling apparatus with aspiration means



R. w. OGLE 3,500,821

MULTIPLE BLOOD SAMPLING APPARATUS WITH ASPIRATION MEANS March 17, 1970 Filed Dec. 5. 19s? HENU Z I I -aQ INVENTOR. 605667 14 0.646

United States Patent Ofice 3,506,821 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 3,500,821 MULTIPLE BLOOD SAMPLING APPARATUS WITH ASPIRATION MEANS Robert W. Ogle, Newport Beach, Calif., assignor to Asper- Vac Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 688,190 Int. Cl. A61m N US. Cl. 1282 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This patent describes a novel blood sampling device comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, extending through its closed end a double-ended needle, the inner end of the needle being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate rubber tube, the inside diameter of the tube being greater than the external diameter of the needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of the needle to the open end of the tube, the exterior of the rubber tube sealing on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible in proximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube on the interior of the holder so that when the other end of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a vein by simply squeezing the holder out of round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point of sealing, thus permitting a small amount of blood to escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to visibly emerge at the open end of the tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the drawing of blood it is absolutely essential that the needle be within the vein of the patient so that the blood sample is withdrawn from the vein rather than from the surrounding tissue. If the blood is accidently drawn from the surrounding tissue, a hematoma is produced accompanied by discoloration, swelling and pain. In utilizing the available blood sampling assemblies for the drawing of blood by vacuum, the normal practice is to insert the end of the needle within the vein, relying solely upon what can be seen by the eye or felt by pressing on the skin to determine whether the lumen of the needle is in the vein, or partially or wholly extending into the surrounding tissue. Present devices are not equipped with any means for making a preliminary determination the the lumen is in fact in the vein. The present invention is concerned with a means for making a preliminary determination that the lumen of the needle is properly positioned in the vein before the evacuated blood sampling tube is punctured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Brefly, the present invention comprises a novel blood sampling device comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, extending through its closed end a double-ended needle, the inner end of the needle being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate tube, normally made of rubber, the inside diameter of the tube being greater than the external diameter of the needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of the needle to the open end of the tube, the exterior of the rubber tube sealing on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible in proximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube on the interior of the holder so that when the other end of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a vein by simply squeezing the holder out of round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point of sealing, thus permitting a small amount of blood to escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to visibly emerge at the open end of the tube.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention the open end of the rubber tube extends beyond the point of sealing on the holder so that the termination of the fluid passage within the tube is not in proximity to the point of sealing of the tubular member on the holder.

In another preferred embodiment, the rubber tube seals on an inwardly extending annular shoulder on the interior of the holder.

It is a primary object of my invention to provide a means of aspirating a holder for an evacuated blood sampling tube.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide means for determining whether the need of an evacuated blood sampling tube holder has been inserted in a vein so that a hematoma will not result from the taking of blood samples.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

The holder is constructed to be flexible in proximity to the annular shoulder which forms a seal with the tube on the inside of the holder so that when the operator aspirates by applying squeezing force to the exterior of the holder, air is permitted to escape from the lower end of the holder around the sealing area, which in turn permits blood from the patient to flow upward in the needle out the inner end thereof and down the fluid passage inside the rubber tube to the point around the open end of the tube where it may be visually observed. The squeezing of the holder distorts it from its normal circular cross-section to an elliptical cross-section which breaks the seal between the exterior of the rubber tube and the inside walls of the holder. In this way, the operator may first insert the holder in the patient in what he believes to be the vein. Then by squeezing he walls of the holder at or around the point of sealing of the rubber tube on the annular shoulder inside of the holder, the blood can be made to appear around the opening of the rubber tube. If blood does not appear, this indicates that the needle has not been inserted in a vein since only venous blood pressure would be capable of causing the production of blood at the opening of the rubber tube. If no blood appears upon squeezing, the operator withdraws the needle and re-inserts it again, squeezes and looks for blood as before. Once the operator is satisfied that the needle has been properly inserted due to the production of blood upon aspirating by squeezing, an evacuated blood sampling tube provided with a stopper is then inserted within the holder and the inner end of the needle is forced through the stopper to withdraw the blood by vacuum into the blood sampling tube. The rubber tube is punctured in the process of forcing the blood sampling tube over the inner end of the needle. Upon withdrawal of the blood sampling tube the inherent recovery .properties of the rubber tube causes it to spring back in place over the end of the needle enclosing the same in preventing the escaping of blood after the blood sampling tube has been withdrawn. The annular shoulder prevents the rubber tube from being pushed down into the holder by the blood sampling tube. In this fashion, a series of samples can be readily taken without the discharge of blood into the interior of the holder between tubes.

3 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows one form of the blood sampling holder utilized in the present invention;

FIGURE 2 shows the second form of holder and rubber tube, the rubber tube being a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGURE 3 shows still another embodiment of the present invention.

As is shown in FIGURE 1 the holder is provided with a cannula 12 which is double-ended and extends through the end wall 14 of the holder. Over the inner end of the cannula 12 is positioned the rubber tube 16 which seals on the inner walls of the holder at shoulder 18. The inside diameter of the rubber tube 16 is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the cannula to provide a fluid passage 20 from the end of the cannula to the open end of the rubber tube. The walls of the holder are made of a flexible material normally plastic such as polystyrene or polyethylene.

The design of the evacuated blood sampling tube is conventional and does not form a part of the present invention.

Turning to FIGURE 2 there is shown a preferred form of the rubber tube 24 having a tail-like portion 26 extending from a point below the point of which the rubber tube seals on the inside of the holder. In this way when the holder is inserted in the vein and squeezing action applied in proximity to the sealing point, the drops of blood appear at point 30 to tell the operator that the holder has been properly inserted in a vein. Thereafter, the threads 32 on the holder and threads 34 on the stopper of the blood sampling tube 36 may be made up to puncture the diaphragm 38 and cause the withdrawal of the blood from the vein into the interior 40 of the blood sampling tube.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the particular construction of a plug in the blood sampling tube and the manner in which it joins or cooperates with the holder does not form a part of the present invention. The holder and blood sampling tube plug may have a variety of configurations. Another such configuration is shown in FIGURE 3 in which neither the holder 42 nor the stopper 44 on the tube 46 is equipped with any threads. The blood sampling tube is simply forced over the inner end of the needle 48 after aspirating blood has been detected at point 50 by applying squeezing action at point 52, in the manner previously described.

Having fully described the invention it is intended that it be limited only by the lawful scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A novel evacuated blood sampling tube holder comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, aflixed to said holder a doubleended needle, the inner end of said needle extending within said holder and being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate tube having a closed end adjacent the open end of the holder, the inside diameter of said tube being greater than the external diameter of said needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of said needle to the open end of said tube, the exterior of the tube sealing on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible in proximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube on the interior of the holder so that when the other end of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a vein by simply squeezing the holder out of round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point of sealing, thus permitting a small amount of blood to escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to Visibily emerge at the open end of the tube,

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said tube seals at its open end on said annular shoulder.

3. The holder of claim 1 wherein said tube extends from the point of sealing on said annular shoulder to the open end of said tube.

4. A novel evacuated blood sampling tube holder comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, afiixed to said holder a double-ended needle, the inner end of said needle extending within said holder and being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate tube having a closed end adjacent the open end of the holder, the inside diameter of said tube being greater than the external diameter of said needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of said needle to the open end of said tube, the exterior of the tube sealing on an annular shoulder on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible in proximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube on the interior of the holder so that when the other end of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a vein by simply squeezing the holder out of round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point of sealing, thus permitting a small amount of blood to escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to visibly emerge at the open end of the tube.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said tube seals at its open end on said annular shoulder.

6. The holder of claim 2 wherein said tube extends from the point of sealing on said annular shoulder to the open end of said tube.

7. A novel blood sampling assembly comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, aifixed to said holder a double-ended needle, the inner end of the needle being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate tube having a closed end adjacent the open end of the holder, the inside diameter of the tube being greater than the external diameter of the needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of the needle to the open end of the tube, the exterior of the tube sealing on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the. closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible inproximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube of the interior of the holder so that when the other end. of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a veing by simply squeezing the holder out of round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point of sealing, thus permitting a small amount of blood to escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to visibly emerge at the open end of the tube; and an evacuated stoppered blood sampling tube, the stopper of said tube being adapted to be punctured by said needle.

- 8. A novel blood sampling assembly comprising a translucent flexible tubular holder having an open end and a closed end, afiixed to said holder a double-ended needle, the inner end of the needle being covered over a portion of its length by a longitudinally compressible imperforate tube having a closed end adjacent the open end of the holder, the inside diameter of the tube being greater than the external diameter of the needle so that a fluid passage is provided from the inner end of the needle to the open end of the tube, the exterior of the tube sealing on an annular shoulder on the interior of the holder at a point remote from the closed end of said tube, said holder being flexible in proximity to the point of sealing of the imperforate tube of the interior of the holder so that when the other end of the needle is inserted in the patient, the operator can establish whether the needle is in a vein by simply squeezing the holder out of. round thus creating an air passage in proximity to the point ofsealing, thus pe m t i g a small amount of blood to 5 escape from the inner end of the needle and flow inside of the tube to visibly emerge at the open end of the tube; and an evacuated stoppered blood sampling tube, the stopper of said tube being adapted to be punctured by said needle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,304,934 2/ 1967 Bautista 128--2 3,336,924 8/1967 Sarnoff et a1.

FOREIGN PATENTS 950,588 3/ 1949 France. 1,239,880 5/ 1967 Germany.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner M. F. MAJESTIC, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 128276 

